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In late
August, Hurricane Irene pounded the Northeast. Almost immediately,
BonaResponds volunteers were making plans to help affected communities
with their recoveries.

BonaResponds is a volunteer organization whose primary mission is
to help people after a disaster. Professor James Mahar founded the
volunteer program in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. The program has
grown tremendously in the past couple of years. BonaResponds helps
with everything from disasters caused by ice storms to fires, both
locally and nationally.

When Mahar heard there was a need for help with Hurricane Irene
in Margaretville, N.Y., he started planning. “It is what we
do,” commented Mahar.

Alexandra Perl, a freshman international studies and political science
major from Penn Yan, N.Y., was involved with the Hurricane Irene
cleanup. She said she joined BonaResponds because, “when I
was looking for clubs to join I had two basic criteria: the club
must offer volunteerism and have a sense of community. BonaResponds
fit those criteria and felt like home.”

During the cleanup, the St. Bonaventure University volunteers cleaned
homes, helped prevent further flooding and removed destroyed personal
possessions and appliances.

As part of another project, they also packed five pallets of pharmaceuticals
for Ethiopia. Some 30 jobs have been completed by the program. Even
though much work remains, Mahar says they got off to a good start.

James Vanderhoof, a freshman undeclared science major from Erie,
Pa., was more than happy to be a part of the cleanup. “During
the cleanup my main thought was, ‘How is cleaning up mud out
of basements this much fun?,’” he said.

While in Margaretville, group members were stopped by many people
on the street, applauding the volunteers for their help and good
nature.

“I feel as though we really made a difference in our little
bit of time in Margaretville,” said Andrew Dugan, a freshman
undeclared business major from Erie, Pa. “The volunteering
was awesome and I plan on staying involved with BonaResponds.”

BonaResponds is open to all, from students to staff to alumni and
community members. All anybody has to do is come to any work day,
sign up online
for a trip or contact James
Mahar.

“BonaResponds aims to help make things better. We may not
make it perfect but we can make it better! Whether the help is ‘just’
being there immediately after a disaster to listen to survivors,
or if it means hauling trees, gutting houses, and picking up debris.
Or maybe helping means painting, landscaping, or even roofing. The
goal is to make the world a little better,” said Mahar

It is hard for anyone not to feel slightly intimidated whenever
he/she is in the presence of Sr. Margaret Carney, St. Bonaventure
University’s twentieth president. But as she addressed us,
the Class of 2015, it was as if some of that intimidation melted
away.

After an introduction from Dr. Nancy Casey (and the “turn
off your cell phone” spiel), Sr. Margaret spoke to us, not
at us. She broke the ice right off the bat by sharing her love for
the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I understand that makes me a rather dangerous and difficult
person to like for some of you,” she said.

She went on to delve into the history of the Steelers and their
time spent on St. Bonaventure’s campus for their training
from 1950-1954. Our attention was captured.

If it was not clear to us before why our first assignment as a class
was to read “Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home
the Lost Children of Nepal” by Conor Grennan, Sr. Margaret
certainly cleared it up. There, accompanied by the president of
the university herself, we as a class were given the chance to discuss
the book we had all read.

In “Little Princes,” Conor Grennan travels to Nepal
to volunteer in an orphanage called Little Princes. He has mixed
feelings about his decision to do so. He never expected to develop
a deep love for the children of Nepal, but he did. After learning
that many of the “orphans” are actually children who
were placed in the orphanage by a child trafficker, Grennan made
it his mission to find the families of each of the children.

Grennan will speak to the Bonaventure community about his experiences
on Monday, Sept. 26.

“Now, there are an awful lot of you and there’s just
one of him,” Sr. Margaret said. “So when he does come
to visit, the question for me is ‘How do we maximize his interaction
with this class?’”

With that, Sr. Margaret traveled around the Dresser Auditorium,
listening to suggestions and building a Letterman-esque Top Ten
List of reasons why the Class of 2015 wants to meet Conor Grennan.
Some of the nominations were humorous (“I just felt he’d
be honored to meet me,” said one member of the Class of 2015,
much to his classmates’ approval) while others really hit
home for St. Bonaventure students.

“We thought he represented a modern example of the Franciscan
values on which this university was built,” came a suggestion
from Jessica Ceglia, a psychology major from Scio, N.Y.

While the other suggestions were just as important, Sr. Margaret
ran with the one about Franciscan values.

“Somebody said he seems to have some of the same Franciscan
values that you’ve been hearing about since you were welcomed
to Bona’s at Orientation and even in these first weeks of
your freshman year,” said Sr. Margaret. “I would say,
‘Amen to that idea.’”

She discussed Grennan and his use of the word “resilient.”
They had been through so much, and yet were so resilient that they
could bounce right back and still act like little children.

“My question to you, the Class of 2015, is: ‘How are
you going to show us your resilience in your years here at St. Bonaventure?’”

Sr. Margaret wants the Class of 2015 to make a mark at St. Bonaventure
and for us to do something that the classes before us have not done
before. We may be a diverse class full of different majors and interests,
but we can work together to make a difference here at St. Bonaventure.

“If you walk around this campus, you’re going to see
little brass plaques with names. You’re going to see buildings
-- Plassmann, Reilly, Walsh, De La Roche – who were those
people? Why is their mark so important? What is your mark going
to be?”

St. Bonaventure University has high expectations for us as a class,
and we have very big shoes to fill. Maybe someday one of our names
will adorn the front of a building here on campus. If Sr. Margaret’s
hopes come true, our names will be famous at St. Bonaventure University.

Sr. Margaret ended with one simple sentence: “I hope you have
a great adventure.”

We had the first of many great adventures together as a class just
moments later. We were unaware that a storm had broken out during
Sr. Margaret’s address.

We screamed and ran together from the Murphy Professional Building
back to our respective residences in the pouring rain.

-Emily
Steves
Class of 2015

________________________________________

Family
Weekend

A few short weeks ago, you dropped your student off at school. Now,
it’s time to come back for a visit. Family Weekend, Sept.
23 to 25, offers the chance to catch up with your student and enjoy
a variety of entertainment and activities.

The weekend will begin on Friday, Sept. 23, when the women’s
soccer team takes on Colgate University. The weekend will finish
on Sunday, Sept. 25, with a Mass in the University Chapel.

Christel Mendez, a junior, said, “My parents have been coming
to Family Weekend since my freshman year. It’s a long drive
up from New York City, but they don’t mind.”

Entertainment will include the New York Voices, a jazz ensemble,
and the popular Casino Night. If you’re feeling athletic,
you can take part in a golf tourney and the Bonafit 5K walk and
run. Family members will also be offered the chance to have coffee
with Sr. Margaret Carney, University president.

One of the most buzzed-about events is the show with hypnotist Keith
Karkut. Cristal Mota, a senior, said, “the hypnotist has been
my favorite family weekend event since my freshman year. Murphy
Auditorium is always packed and you are guaranteed to laugh the
entire night.”

Another
much-anticipated event during Family Weekend is Bonagany, which
involves university students plus Allegany residents and officials.
Bonagany brings food, shopping, music, activities and clubs together
on Main Street on Saturday.

Senior Paul Leonardo , member of the Latino American Student Organization,
said, “every year at Bonagany many of the clubs have a table
set up with either games, or in our case, we prepare authentic Spanish
dishes for anyone in the festival to try. People get a little taste
of our culture.”

Other activities will include inflatable amusements, wagon rides,
classic cars and local music acts.

Stephen Kuchera, assistant director of Activities, Recreation and
Leadership, at Bonaventure said, “the time on each activity
has been extended to give everyone a chance to participate, and
some new events have been added to the schedule so that everyone
has more time to do their favorite activity.”

Family is an important part of the Bona lifestyle, Kuchera said.
“It’s important for parents to attend activities so
they can see what type of school their child is attending.”
The full schedule of events can be found on www.sbu.edu/familyweekend.

-Cristabell
Ramdial
Class of 2013

Still
looking for a place to stay for Family Weekend?

Try searching
hotels in nearby Cuba or Ellicottville, N.Y. or Bradford, Pa. There
are also a few places on www.vrbo.com.
Families looking for a little more adventure should also check out
Allegany
State Park, which has cabins for rent.

All
Bonaventure Reads

Over the
summer, while your son or daughter prepared to go off to college,
your child also began to prepare for the schoolwork that was bound
to come once she became a student at St. Bonaventure University.

Her first
assignment? To read “Little Princes: One Man's Promise to
Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal” by Conor Grennan and
write a reflection essay. The book and the assignment were among
the first things your student received at summer orientation.

“Little
Princes,” which was picked unanimously by the All Bonaventure
Reads (ABR) Committee last spring, takes students on a journey to
war-torn Nepal, giving them a glimpse of humanity that seems to
be a world away in another life and time from the sheltered world
many students have grown to know.

“The
book is really about how making the smallest of decisions can put
us on the right path,” said Jean Ehman, chair of the ABR Committee.

“This
book really showed me that one person can make a difference in the
world, and I would love to do something as inspiring as Conor Grennan,”
she said. “I want to make a difference and I feel like now
I can.”

“I
believe the freshman class has gained a new perspective on life
in general, and I believe they aspire to do something great like
Conor Grennan did,” Scott said. “I think it made our
class more personable with each other because we have this common
experience.”

For the
past five years, the authors of the selected books have come to
St. Bonaventure University to talk with the freshmen classes about
his or her book and to hear how the book impacted the students.
This year will be no different.

On Sept.
26, the Monday after Family Weekend, Grennan will come to St. Bonaventure
University. He will speak to students, faculty, staff and community
members at the Reilly Center. Before his talk, he will dine with
39 freshmen and various members of the St. Bonaventure community.
Thirteen of these 39 freshmen are the essay contest winners. They
were selected by a committee of faculty and staff members from the
university who evaluated their essay reflections from the summer
assignment. One student from each of the 26 sections of University
101 will also be chosen to go to the dinner. The selection process
for these 26 students is left up to each University 101 class.

Since
Grennan’s speech is the day after Family Weekend, Ehman said
parents and family members are welcome to stay an extra day to attend
the event.

“We
hope students will talk to their parents about the book,”
said Ehman, also the director of the Teaching and Learning Center.

However,
before Grennan comes to St. Bonaventure University, your student
will have several opportunities to view movies related to the themes
of the book.

Students
had the chance to view “Returned: Child Soldiers of Napal’s
Maoist Army” and “Everest – Beyond the Limit."
One additional video, “Call + Response,” is scheduled
for Wednesday, Sept. 21. These activities are considered “passport”
events and can be used to fulfill part of the activities required
of freshmen. On Nov. 15, the entire freshmen class will attend the
First-Year Experience Conference where each University 101 class
will present a poster, a presentation or even a video relating to
one or more of the themes presented in “Little Princes.”

A First-Year
Experience committee member will soon be talking with the class
officers, once elections are complete, to discuss holding a fundraiser
for the Next Generation Nepal charity, which was inspired by the
book and is now in partnership with “Little Princes.”

As University
101 wraps up, your student will finish analyzing the book and talking
about it in class. But Ehman hopes the book will continue to impact
each student’s life and that the discussion will move from
the classroom to the outside world.

“It’s
a thinking matter,” she said. “We want the students
to think about the book and talk about it. Start a conversation
about it.”

“After
reading 'Little Princes,' I realized that the world is a very imperfect
place and that there are a lot of good people in the world,”
Scott said.